Be a Man
by livelife-killzombies
Summary: The broken are drawn to the broken. At least that's what they all say... A Caryl fanfiction(: One of my very favorite pairings in The Walking Dead. It was originally a One-shot, but I continued it because people enjoyed it! If people continue to enjoy it, I'll continue to extend it(: ENJOY!
1. Chapter 1

Be a Man

By Kella Marie

Disclaimer; I do not own Daryl Dixon, Carol Pelletier, or Judith Grimes.

**Author's Note; This was intended to be a one-shot, but after writing it, I thought I left y'all hanging a little. If people like it, I'll continue with another chapter(:**

Merle's the one that left. Merle is always the one that leaves. He left when Daryl was only eight years old to join the United States Army. Leaving Daryl to fend for and defend himself. He hated Merle for that. The scars on his back. The sounds, much like the crack of a whip, and the sting of their father's leather belt. The horrible sting that brought tears to Daryl's eyes. His blue eyes filled with blue tears. But Daryl couldn't cry.

_Shut the hell up, Boy! Stop bein' a fuckin' baby and be a man! _

Their father loved his whiskey, even more than their mother loved her wine and cigarettes. That's why they had to move to Georgia because their mother burned the house down. Before, they'd lived in a small town in South Carolina where beating your child was frowned upon. Down here, in the south, that's all they talked about.

_Oh, Johnny got the paddle last night. _One of them would say.

_So did Anna. She slept with that boy down the street... To think she thought her father and I would never find out. _Said another.

Their Daddy thought that children were a disgrace to the world. A disease. A plague. Maybe Mama should have been on the pill, or Daddy should wrapped it up, then they wouldn't have been stuck with one too many kids.

_Daddy! Stop! That hurts! _Crack. Sting. Tears.

_No, Daddy! You're drunk! What did I do? _Crack. Sting. Tears.

Of course, Merle always pulls the "But I came back!" gimmick. Merle thinks that their father would never do anything to hurt poor, little, innocent Daryl. Obviously he hasn't seen the scars. It seemed like a good thing that Merle had returned, at first, but Daryl is started to regret that decision.

One thing he doesn't regret though is opening that hall door. The one he'd been sitting across, jabbing Carol's knife in to the ground, for God knows how long. He'd been so bent on the idea that she was gone forever. His heart was broken in to a thousand tiny pieces, and the only thing that would put them back together was to see Carol. Alive and well.

At least he got half his wish. He had found Carol alive in that room across the hall, Dehydrated and hungry, but alive. The only thought that was running through his head as he was running through the prison halls was that he was about to kill her. Drive that motherfucking knife through her head and end her life right there. He would have never forgiven himself.

"Jesus Christ, I can't be thinkin' about this now!" Daryl said to himself, aloud. He was laying in one of the cell beds, one knee bent up on the mattress and the other on the floor.

"Thinkin' about what?" Daryl jumped. He'd forgotten that Carol was there with him, watching Judith, who was, at the time, asleep, while everyone else was either on watch, or on a run. He hoisted himself up to lean on his elbows, shaking his head.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," Carol had come to sit at the end of the bed, making Daryl uncomfortable. She was so beautiful, so strong. It made him feel intimidated, like he wasn't good enough for her. A broken boy in the shell of an angry man. He'd never be good enough for her...

"No, I want to hear. It must be somethin' worth talkin' about if it's worth cryin' over," She reached over and wiped a tear from Daryl's face. He hadn't even noticed he was crying, and that made him blush. Which in return made him embarrassed, causing him to stand up and walk to the other side of the room.

"It's nothin', Carol," He said, looking out the small, barred window of the holding block.

"Well if you ever wanna talk, I'm around," She said with a smile, getting up and preparing to leave. Daryl didn't want her to leave. He never wanted her to leave, like Merle had all those times.

"It's about my father," Daryl called. Carol turned back around to face him. "My father... My shitty ass, mother fuckin', son of a bitch Daddy."

She cocked her head to the side, furrowing her eyebrows in concern, wrinkling her slim and lovely forehead.

"He hit me after Merle left. When Merle was home, he never laid a hand on me. I just sat in my room listening to the screams coming from the spare bedroom, where he let his anger out on my brother. I really hoped it'd never be me, but of course, Merle left because that's just what he does. Merle leaves and I'm left to do all the dirty work. Just like now," Daryl was still staring out the window at the pink, twilight clouds. He hadn't noticed Carol had moved behind him to stare out the window over his broad shoulder. He stiffened when she looped her arms around his midsection, tightly and warmly.

"I know how that is, Daryl," Carol said softly. Her breath caught his ear and he could feel himself becoming red again. "My daddy was like that too. And my husband..." She trailed off and rested her chin near Daryl's neck. Her short hair brushed his jugular and he resisted a shiver moving down his spine.

_Stop bein' a fuckin' baby and be a man!_

His father's words rang in his head. He knew he had to do it and he knew he had to do it now. He should have taken her offer the first night they arrived, on top of the RV, but he was dumb. Her body language was hinting. He knew he had to do it now.

"Carol," He started. Hesitating to collect his thoughts. "I'm going to do something, but don't get pissy with me, okay?" Carol thought as well. Her heart was pumping in her chest and she knew exactly what was going to happen.

"Alright," She replied, trying to contain as much of her excitement as she could. Daryl turned around and Carol dropped her arms. They engaged in a stare that seemed like forever, and the faintest hint of a smile was glowing on Carol's face.

_Stop bein' a fuckin' baby..._

Daryl placed his callused hand on Carol's cheek, looking from her lips to her nose to her cheekbones...

_... be a man!_

He kissed her, sending shock waves of emotion and hormones through both of their bodies. Carol let her fingers linger on Daryl's collarbones, while Daryl's free hand was on the small of her back. Lightning shot through them from the lips down and sexual pleasures rose up in both of them. Carol let her hands drop, touching every part of Daryl's upper body that she could, without it being weird. She allowed her palms to rest on his hips, waiting for the perfect moment.

Daryl's heart was racing, and all he could think was how smooth it was all going. He removed his hand from her face and slipped it under her shirt, touching her bare ribs, just under her bra. _Shit._ He thought, _What if she doesn't want this?_ He was jumbled, but didn't want to end it all right there. Awkwardly, as he always was. Awkward.

A cry struck the walls outside the cell, causing a horrible and creepy echo. Carol pulled away from the kiss and sighed.

"Judith's awake," She smiled, her cheeks beginning to feel very hot.

"Well you better go take care of the Lil' Asskicker before she wakes the dead," Daryl smiled too. They stood there oddly, looking at each other. Both debating on what to do next. Finally, Carol stood on her tip-toes and planted a sweet kiss on Daryl's cheek.

"Thanks for that," She said. Daryl watched as she walked away, staring at the back of her head, and thinking about the smile on the other side.

**If people like I'll continue with this one as well :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Be a Man

Chapter 2

She remembered when Sophia was that small. She remembered holding her in her arms and playing with her when Ed was working. Carol was never allowed to have a job. According to her husband, women do all the house work and men make the dough, which was spent mostly on beer and cigarettes. She hated him for that. Sometimes, she wonders why she ever got together with him. He manipulated her and made her feel like everything that was wrong with the world, was her fault, somehow. She'd actually left once. She left the house for a week after Ed had hit her. Carol hadn't told him that she was pregnant because she thought it would cause an argument (which she would lose). Ed found the pregnancy test in the bathroom garbage a few days after she had took it. He tried to kill her baby that night, and Carol left him.

Ed called the motel and begged her to come home. Going on and on about how he loved her and he really wanted the baby. He was drunk, but her Mama always said that a drunk man's words were the truth, so she had gone home. When she got there, Ed had nearly drunk himself to death and they rushed him to the emergency room. At the time, she had hoped he lived. She didn't know if she could handle living as a widow with a child, and of course, he had. But now, she wished he'd died sooner. Maybe Sophia would still be alive if he had.

Carol shook her head, blowing her negative thoughts away. She was strong. She knew she was strong. She didn't need them anymore. She didn't need Ed or Sophia. Her eyes were drawn back to the suckling baby girl in her arms. Judith was her family now. Judith and Rick and Glenn and Maggie and Beth and Hershal and Carl and Michonne and Daryl... Daryl Dixon. She needed him the most. She didn't know what it was about him, but she was drawn to him. He was a perfect man in her opinion. Daryl was strong, too. Stronger than Carol, by far. She thought she would never be a good enough woman for him. First off, she was older than him. No man wants an older woman, no way. Second, she was so lost in her past sometimes, she was almost unresponsive, confused. _He probably just kissed me because he was desperate, _she thought, smiling down at Judith's soft, baby face. _He probably missed the feel of a woman._

Little did Carol know, Daryl had never kissed a woman, at least, not like that anyway. When he was a junior in high school, he'd kissed Elizabeth Cole on a dare. She wasn't the greatest looking broad around, but she wasn't bad looking. She wore glasses and had blonde hair and freckles and dark brown eyes. She wasn't a very good kisser, and he could say that now since Carol was a great kisser. He pondered what it would be like to sleep with Carol. To have her beautifully sculpted body come down on him, her perfect breasts on his chest, the sounds she would make as they made sweet love. Just thinking about it gave him a hard on, which made him turn to lean on the window sill to hide it, despite the fact the no one could see. He'd been staring out that window ever since Carol left the cell, watching the walkers roam the fields and roads beyond the prison in the moonlight. It had been about an hour and the sun had settled down to sleep, letting the moon have a turn taking watch. The downstairs area of the cell block was lit by oil lamps and flashlights. The flicking of the lamp wicks made shadows long and eery. Everyone had returned home about forty minutes ago, and were eating their dinners and Carol fed the lil' asskicker.

Carol had handed Judith to Beth and placed the dirty bottle next to the other dirtied dishes. She would wash them in the morning. She walked over to their stack of paper plates and plastic utensils and grabbed a plate and spoon. Hershel had made canned chili that night. Carol strolled over to the pot and scooped some on to the plate.

"Where's Daryl?" Maggie asked as she passed, placing her garbage in the industrial sized trash bag at the corner of the room.

"Upstairs. I'm just bringin' this to him," Carol said.

Daryl poked at a dead June Bug, trying to take his mind off of Carol. He still couldn't believe she had kissed him back. All that was running through his mind was a hope that she would come back and kiss him again, and maybe it would escalate, making his fantasy in to a reality.

"Knock, knock," a voice rang in the cell. Daryl looked over his shoulder to find Carol standing at the cell's doors. He turned to face her, and leaned against the wall. "I brought you some food," she said with a smile and walked in.

"Thanks," Daryl said, taking it from her, brushing the tips of her fingers with his. She pulled back and blushed, smiling. Daryl placed his food on the top bunk.

"Been thinkin'," Daryl stated. "'Bout what happened today."

"Me too," Carol added. Daryl's heart jumped and his stomach began to tickle.

"Was it uhm," He cleared his throat. "Was it bad?" Carol shook her head then remembered that it was hard to see her.

"No," she replied. "I really enjoyed it." Daryl looked to his left, pretending to take interest in something on the wall.

"You wanna..." he started.

"Do it again sometime?" Carol finished, excitedly. "Yes. I'd love that."

**And thus concludes chapter 2 :) I'm really enjoying writing this! More later probably, no school today. Maybe another chapter or two?**


	3. Chapter 3

Be a Man

Chapter 3

The sun was rising over the horizon when Daryl had awoken in the same holding block. He stretched and cracked every joint possible before noticing the bulge in his jeans. _Seriously...?_ He thought angrily. If there was one thing he hated more than zombies, it was morning wood. Daryl swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, trying desperately not to remember the dream he had had last night. If you hadn't already assumed, it was about Carol.

It started out in a meadow, only lit by dim moonrays, and littered with patches of Cherokee Roses. The long grass glittered from dew and dampened his calves as he walked. At the edge of the meadow, right before the blades hit the trees, she stood. She was dressed in white, or maybe it was light grey. Daryl couldn't tell. She was standing perfectly still with her hands crossed in front of her. The gown which hung over her in lace and sheer, blew lightly in the breeze, revealing the hidden secrets behind its see-through blinds. The symmetrical curves that ran the length of either side of her body, from her shoulders to her hips to her thighs to her feet. The line down the middle of her spine, the dimples in her back, and he couldn't help but observe her buttocks. He was nearly a foot away, just about to reach out and touch her, when he woke up, which also annoyed Daryl immensely.

He walked to the door of the cell and pushed the bars to the side, exiting in to the large room of the cell block. He walked to the rail of the balcony and leaned on it, groaning and rubbing the sleepy out of his eyes. Despite the fact that he was tired, today he had a duty to fulfill, which started with the most important person, Glenn. Holder of all things protective, if you know what I mean. Daryl let his forearms rest on the rail, leaning most of his body weight on his left foot. He figured he looked like a fairy, but it didn't bother him at the time. No one was awake to see him.

Carol's eyes fluttered open, sucking her out of a dreary and dreamless sleep. She was glad she'd woken up early this morning. The dreamless sleeps always tend to be the painful sleeps. The ones where you wake up with pins and needles in both hands and feet, and your neck hurts terribly, for some reason, all day. She rolled on to her back, locking her hands behind her head, staring at the bottom of the bunk on top of her. Sometimes, she missed Lori sleeping there. On the nights Rick wouldn't sleep, she would drift in to Carol's cell and meekly ask if she could sleep there. She sort of understood why Lori was afraid to sleep alone. Carol would have been too if she was pregnant with a potentially still-born, zombie baby. If everyone carried the virus, wouldn't one think that a still-born baby would carry it, too?

She stood up and stretched her back, reaching her arms to the sky, almost as if she was determined to touch the ceiling. Her tank top inched off her hips and she let a "stretching sound" take her vocal chords over. She let her heals hit the floor again and she reached for her blanket. She wrapped it around her shoulders and sat back down on the bunk. On the floor, Carol reached for her socks, but only found one. She grabbed it and looked at it. Nowadays, everything seemed so dirty. Not only their clothes, but everything else was dirty too. She sighed.

"Shoot," she breathed, looking under the bed for her other sock. She assumed some small animal had come, and was now making a nice bed out it. She sat back and pulled on her single stocking and put on her shoes. She would have to go out and grab another pair sometime today. Athletes' Foot in the zombie apocalypse was not an option. Carol stood again, pulling the blanket tight around her upper body and left her cell to go out in to the hall.

Daryl had been thinking about Merle again. Merle and his parents and the few, asshole friends that he had growing up. His best friend was a kid named Frank Kinesko. He was short, pale, and acne covered his face in red patches. He was alright, Daryl guessed, except for the fact that Frank never cared to listen to Daryl. Especially when it came to his life. Believe it or not, Daryl Dixon is a good listener, despite whether or not he cared, he liked to listen. Anyway, Frank got hit by a car in eighth grade, and he died on impact. His ribs had broken and hit his heart, severing the arteries in one blow. Mrs. Kinesko had invited Daryl to the funeral, but he didn't go. In fact, he was kind of glad Frank was gone. One less person he had to worry about. A light giggle rippled through his train of thought, forcing him back in to reality.

"Trying out a new look I see?" Carol chuckled from behind him. Daryl felt his cheeks get hot, and stood up straight, gripping the railing in both hands in embarrassed anger.

"Whuhchu want, Carol?" Daryl rasped, much harsher than he had expected. A sour, acidic taste built up in the back of his throat, knowing that he had done something wrong. Carol leaned her back against the railing and looked straight ahead.

"Jus' wanted someone to talk to. Everyone else is asleep," She replied quietly. She adjusted her blanket on her shoulders, staring at Daryl's boots on the floor of the cell, next to the bunk. She glanced down at his feet and noticed that he was standing on a rather large piece of glass, in nothing but his socks. "You should put shoes on," Carol suggested. "You might get cut." Daryl looked down at the floor, barely acknowledging the glass wedged between his heal and the concrete floor.

"Think I'll be alright," He said, obviously with forced sincerity, which sounded more like sarcasm. _Jesus Christ, she prob'ly thinks I'm the biggest asshole. _Daryl thought, taking his heel and shoving the glass chunk backward.

_He probably thinks I'm being too over protective. _Carol thought, tightening her grip on the edges of her blanket.

They stood silently against the railing, occasionally sneaking looks at the other.

_She's real good-lookin' in the morning. _He stared at her perfect side profile from the crown of her head to as far down as his peripheral vision would take him. Which was about to the middle of her thigh.

_ His eyes are so beautiful in the sun... _She watched as his ocean eyes turned almost translucent in the glittering sunlight, leaking in from the barred windows.

Daryl reached out and took Carol's hand. She kindly warmed the welcome of his palm.

_Why's she so cold all the time? _Carol's hands felt like winter. It sent a rush of cold water rushing through the nerves in his arm.

_ His hands are very warm. _Daryl's palms were a good kind of warm. The dry kind. Not the kind of warm you get from hard work, or embarrassment. On impact, a pleasant shiver ran down Carol's spine.

He turned and grabbed her waist. She dropped her grey, airplane blanket, hooking her hands on the back of his neck. They hesitated, just staring longingly at each other, but afraid of potential rejection.

"Oh, to Hell with it," Carol thought aloud, and craned her neck, kissing him passionately on the mouth. Daryl kissed back thinking _Damn it, man! That shoulda been you! _But quickly pushing it off as Carol's tongue parted his lips. He reached up and held her face, his eyes closed and picturing more. Wanting more. Craving more of Carol Peletier. The image of her coming down on him entered his brain once again, involuntarily turning him on. His jeans became suddenly tighter and he tried to resist the rise of his erection.

Carol's heart was beating on her sternum, creating a thumping sound in her ears. She moved closer, pushing herself against Daryl. She took full notice of the tent Daryl was pitching. She blushed and something started to throb between her own legs. Carol moved her hands to Daryl's chest, taking in every fit and muscular crevice in his pecs. She continued down the length of his upper body, until she found the waist of his jeans, resting on his hips.

_Is she doing what I think she is...? _Daryl questioned to himself. His heartbeats were uncomfortably fast and violent and excited. It reminded him of when he used sneak in to the fair with Merle, and ride on the rickety, wooden roller-coaster they had. He was scared but excited all at the same time. He felt Carol's delicate fingers closing in on the button of his Levi's. The bulge growing ever larger with every centimeter she got closer. Carol fiddled with the button, while both of their anticipation and sexual desire bloomed rapidly in their bodies.

"Do you think you guys can do that somewhere people don't sleep and eat?" Carol peeled off of Daryl faster than either of them knew what was going on. Carl was standing in front of them, staring at a sideways angle.

"Git outta here, Carl! You don't even know what was goin' on!" Daryl yelled and someone (maybe Glenn) yelled 'shut up' back from a cell down the way.

"I'm pretty sure I have a good idea," Carl stated sarcastically, gesturing toward Daryl's crotch. Carol looked too, having to stifle a laugh. Daryl became bright red and turned around, clenching and unclenching his right fist, and leaning back on the railing with is left. Carl shook his head and continued walking, to the perch, down the stairs and to the bottom cell all the way to the right, to relieve his bladder of the pain of night.

**Hey guys! I'm super sorry this chapter took so long! I wasn't sleeping very well this week, and I normally just came home from school and fell asleep everyday. I hope you all had a happy Friday and I also hope you enjoy this chapter! And don't worry(: Carol and Daryl will get to do IT very soon!**


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